My guest for this episode is Rob Schultz. Rob is the vineyard manager for Lemelson Vineyards in Oregon, and farms 130 acres of organic vineyards in the Willamette Valley. Lemelson Vineyards has been certified organic for over 25 years, and has been one of my favorites since I started in wine over 2 decades ago. Rob also happens to be one of the main people responsible for the Organic Winegrowers Network there in Oregon, which led to the historic Organic Winegrowers Conference this spring of 2025.

Rob has a droll, straightforward manner that I think belies a passionately thoughtful approach to his relationship with the vineyard ecosystem. Throughout this conversation we’ll be bantering along and then he’ll drop an insight bomb out of the blue that I’m still thinking about now having re-listened to this several times. Some topics that come up include: Spanish language skills should be a requirement for work in wine in the US at least, vine sentience and the domestication of humans, breeding a better baby doll sheep, why Oregon makes the best pinot noir in the world, and much more.

https://www.lemelsonvineyards.com/

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